Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]For Luggers who might not have ready access to it, Roger W. Hicks reviews the Voigtlander Bessa L in the 'First Look" section of the September issue of Shutterbug (pages 66 - 67) and says in part "the lenses (the 15mm Heliar and the 25 mm Skopar) astonished me. Vignetting is modest, even at full aperture, and improves on stopping down. They are very contrasty, thanks to low numbers of glass air surfaces, and multi coating. (He then goes into lp/mm testing before continuing) " In other words they are excellent wide open, but they are stunning at a stop down from wide open. Their only real drawback, until you are used to them, is that the focus and aperture rings are close together." Later he goes on to say that " the first place winner is the basic Bessa L plus 25/4 lens . . . for many kinds of street photography, travel, and reportage, this small easy to use and affordable outfit should introduce thousands to the delights of direct vision cameras. It may also boost the sales of more conventional rangefinder cameras, including the Leica." (Editorial comment: ahem!) In conclusion he ends with " in second place is the near miraculous 15/4.5. Until now the only real option for Leica users who wanted an extreme wide angle lens was to try to find an 16/8 Zeiss Hologon in Leica mount. Extremely rare, these commonly fetch $10,000." (Ed note: in the same Shutterbug Tamarkin is advertising a new 16mm Zeiss Hologon in Leica mount for US$2695 and selling the 15mm Heliar for US$795 - both with viewfinders). Hicks goes on " My own suspicion is that the majority of Heliars will be sold to Leica users, rather than for the Bessa L - though once you have a Bessa L, you might as well buy a 15mm too." I have had a Bessa L and the Heliar for several months and I agree with most of what Roger Hicks says. I find I don't use the Bessa L much but I drop the Heliar in my bag and use it with an M6 or CLE whenever my 24 Elmarit isn't wide enough. The Heliar viewfinder is a pleasure to use - better for my eyes than the Leica 24mm finder. I haven't bothered to buy the Skopar, but when the prices fall a bit more here in Hong Kong, I think I will and then the Bessa may see more use. What is neat about the camera and the lenses is their size. The camera is just a bit smaller than an M6 but much lighter and lenses are diminutive - like Elmars from the 30's and 40's. From a quality point of view, the Heliar produces excellent images for my type of shooting - colour neg "happy snaps" and on a cost value scale it is, in my opinion, a great buy. I don't see the introduction of the Bessa and LTM lenses as a threat to Leica but rather as a means of introducing more people to the joys of 35mm rangefinder photography. A modern LTM rangefinder camera would be another step in opening the market. Maybe Leica and Cosina should co-operate on this - Cosina by all reports is almost there with the announcement of their rangefinder LTM based on the Bessa L expected very shortly. That co-operation wouldn't be any stranger than the badge engineering cooperation on the Leica digital camera with Fuji. Being naturally optimistic (I am, after all, in sales! :)) I think we are entering into a period of renaissance in rangefinder cameras which will benefit all manufacturers of such cameras - especially "Mother Leica" and I look forward to trying them all - while still keeping and adding to my Leica M inventory. Best Regards Howard Cummer.